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North Korea’s foreign trade from 2009-2015. Data: KOTRA

North Korean trade with countries other than South Korea fell by 18% to US$6.25 billion between 2014 and 2015, the first decline since 2009.

According to a report on 2015 North Korean external trade trends published on June 15 by the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA), North Korea exports fell to US$2.7 billion for 2015 - a 15% drop from 2014 - while exports were down 20% to US$3.55 billion, resulting in a trade deficit of US$850 million.

The trade deficit was down 33% from 2014.

Total exports and imports for 2015 amounted to US$6.25 billion, down 18% from US$7.61 billion the year before in the first such decline in six years. The fall in trade scale is apparently attributable to heavier economic sanctions in the wake of North Korea’s nuclear weapons and long-range missile tests.

China remained North Korea’s single biggest trade partner, rising slightly from 90.1% to 91.3% of trade between 2014 and 2015. The dollar amount totaled US$5.71 billion - down 16.8% from 2014 - with exports accounting for US$2.48 billion and imports for US$3.23 billion. North Korea‘s trade deficit with China amounted to US$750 million, a 37% decrease from the year before.

The decline in trade with China was attributed to the combined effects of falling export prices and decreased supplies. In the case of coal, export supplies increased 26.9% from 2014, but the dollar amount of exports fell by 7.6% due to dipping prices. Iron ore export supplies dropped by 45.5% due to an oversupply within China.

Other major North Korean trading partners were Russia, India, Thailand, and Ukraine, which rose back up to fifth place after falling outside the top ten last year. The US and Japan, which have spearheaded sanctions against North Korea, had almost no trade with it, providing only humanitarian aid.

By Kim Kyu-won, staff reporter

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